Story-in-Short:
It is an anthology which consists of 25 such stories that will steal your heart away. It is not just a book but a journey of emotions that will take you for a roller coaster ride. With every page you turn, words will strike the chord of feelings and emotions will grip you in a manner that you wont feel like keeping the book aside till you reach the end.
In My View:
The merging of similar or different elements into a union is Fusion. And I have completed reading this mingled flavour Mocktail with 25 classic stories – Fusion, an anthology. Here’s my detailed review on the stories:
1) The Heir by Renuka Vishwanathan.
A young engineer, working in a reputed company is once called up by his boss. Boss suddenly forwards a proposal of marrying his daughter. Several thoughts revolve around him but what he finally decides? His decision and acts, further affects not just him but his married life too. A well-narrated story and an interesting one too.
2) Dance of Life by Shreya Kumar.
This story is about a girl whose life fills up with grief in the aftermath of an incident. Depressed over this incident, she tries to end her life but is fortunately saved. A psychiatrist produces hope in her and this is how the story further proceeds. The story is a very well written story describing the emotions of the victim. It will surely touch the heart of a reader. Its beginning is good but I would say that the ending could have been better.
3) Telephone by Ayan Basu.
What if you get a call from a stranger on your telephone? You won’t think twice before labelling it a wrong number and putting the receiver down. But what happens in this story is the exact opposite. Dialling an arbitrary number connects a boy and girl, both strangers to each other. This strange feeling disappears soon. The title sounds simple but it concept is unique. It is exciting in the beginning but falls loose in the latter part.
4) Strings by Mehek Bassi.
For a mother, her child is everything in this world. ‘Strings’ is basically a story full of emotions. It is about a girl whose deaf mother raises her with an appropriate upbringing. The girl is normal but she too finds special children more interesting than the normal ones. She falls in love with a similar special boy but will her mother agree to this marriage?
The story is brilliantly written with a satisfying end.
5)) Affair@Online by Neelam Saxena Chandra.
Everything isn’t the way we perceive it to be. A college going teenager falls in love with a girl over social networking. He is arrogant towards his mother and gives more importance to the girl. Exchanges of lovely talks make him feel the developing approaches. But in the course of this so-called love what happens further is shocking. The story has a perfect beginning but takes a reader through something that is expectable. Also, I think the story could have been extended in the end. Otherwise it is an exquisite story that sprouts a crucial message for the current generation.
6) Twilight by Purba Chakraborty.
Life is unpredictable. No one knows what is about to happen next. This story highlights the same thing. Two lovers are forced to part away due to the orthodox society. But destiny gets them together through a journey. But volatility strikes again. For some time, life seems to be glittering but soon dusk takes over. The story has romanticism and thrill proportionately instilled in it, making a reader glued till the end.
7) The Red Lahori Dupatta by Paromita Bardoi.
This story reminds me of a quote by Mother Teresa ‘If you Judge people then you have no time to love them.’ It is about two lovers from across the border. Befriending through social networking, their friendship soon displays symptoms of love. Belonging to two different countries, religion makes no difference to them and their relationship. But destiny has something weird in store for them. The story is fascinating and touches the heart of a reader.
8) Love – A vague Puzzle by Nehali Lalwani.
Devastation at the loss of near and dear ones is common. But then moving ahead courageously is important. This story is about a boy who devastated by the losses in his life distances himself from love. But a single image plays a crucial role! Beginning on a casual note, this story takes an interesting turn that stimulates a reader in the course of reading it.
9) How to kill boredom by Arjun Pereira.
This story is about two boys and their attraction towards girls. While they observe them their heart pounces on one of the girls. Initially she doesn’t responds seriously but then she makes her decision. It is a sort of casual story with fine narration. The title of the story too could have been better.
10) The Unsaid Words… by Swarupa.
At times we don’t speak out what is there in our heart. Such things are often buried deep inside and they remain unsaid. Sometimes we don’t trust the ones we should and then things pile up to mess. This story too is about a girl and her friend has a crush on her. Despite knowing this she doesn’t develops any further talks as she falls in love with another boy. But will this girl be happy in her life? Will things move as she had planned? Along with a suitable title, the story has been well narrated. It is a blend of emotions and possesses the ability to attract a reader’s attention.
11) The Housewife and the Goon by Renu Sethi.
Distinguished people seldom help others. And it is found that people with not-so-good reputation often run to help others. Here’s a story of a local gangster, who despite being in a bad company, helps his society mates, neighbours and others. But in an act of revenge an unlawful incident gets committed by him. The formation of the story is very well and it mesmerizes a reader.
12) Slaves of Soul by Heena Ahuja.
With the arrival of this story, reader’s get a break from love stories. It is a thriller, portraying bank robbery. In the beginning it seems to be a simple story of robbery. But the twist that comes in the story with the disclosure of the intention of robbers amazes a reader. Again, the narration of this story too is wonderful and it is fully enthrals reader. A delightful story that 
satisfies and pleases a reader.
13) The Blind Fold by Shalini Katyal
Rejection is often followed by depression. This story is about a banker who loves his college friend but the girl doesn’t have any feelings for him. His love can be called a ‘one-sided love’ which takes a toll on him. The banker cannot bear rejection and its effect comes out later. His friend meanwhile tries to figure out the reason for his absurd behaviour but realizes only after occurrence of an incident. A good story with a perfect title!
14) Anaesthesia by Manshi Bhateja.
When one doesn’t have anyone to share feelings, one tends to feel crushed. This story is about a girl who loses her parents at an early age. She feels lonely and crumpled. But then her damaged soul gets comfort and company which spreads happiness all around her. The short poems in between the story touch a reader’s heart and the mellow message that the story forwards is crucial too.
15) The Angel by Ishita Bhown.
‘World Indeed is a mixture of all breeds.’ On a hand a patient is on the verge of dying, his little daughter is in tears and on another hand the doctor enjoys with his family. But when reality dawns and the patient couldn’t be saved, guilt takes over. And this guilt doesn’t let him leave the situation unless he accepts someone’s responsibility. Along with the pain and grief of a little girl, the story highlights humanity. This one is indeed a heart-rendering story.
16) Cold Stone by Nikhil Chandwani.
A classic story indeed with beautiful narration. I found this story really enthralling as it is well composed and hold my attention perfectly fine. The sentences, dialogues and account of the whole story charms a reader. Perfect title to the story is a cherry on the cake! Readers are surely going to enjoy it!
17) That Unexpected Encounter by Elora Rath.
This story is about two lovers who couldn’t marry. Although they loved each other, situations at that particular time prevent their plan of marriage. But destiny has its own plans. And to find exactly what destiny has in store for them, you need to dive into the story. The title of the story could have been better. Its narration is really good which makes it an involving slice.
18) It’s Forever… Its Love!!! By Vinita Bali.
Love is unconditional. The loss of the one you love more than your life sometimes becomes unbearable. This is a similar story of two persons who loved, cajoled, fought with each other but at the end loved each other. Their feelings for each other were so strong that they couldn’t afford to live without each other. An emotional story which brings water in eyes.
19) Simplicity by Col Mahip Chadha.
Simplicity is well appreciated than complexity. It is a story of a soldier who loses ammunition which enrages his senior. But his simplicity plays a major role in denying any further action on him. Although the story contains a meaningful message but it isn’t that powerful to hold a reader’s attention.
20) Born under bad sign by Warishree Pant.
Every individual deserves respect. Then let that individual be a man, woman, gay or lesbian. This story brings to light cruelty done with those people who have feelings for the same sex. It is basically a story of two close friends who love each other. But parental pressure creates a barrier in this friendship. This forces them to take a tough call. The attempt made by the author is good and the story reflects a worthy message but sequentially the story becomes equally predictable.
21) Play 4 change by Roshan Kumar.
Change is the need of the hour, isn’t it? Time to time change in our thoughts, mind-sets, behaviour, political system, government, etc. is necessary. Play 4 Change is a story of a movement to swipe out corruption from our society and to essence patriotism. The story delivers the message healthily but it doesn’t contain that spirit to hold a reader’s attention for long. Soon after its beginning, the story proceeds simply and tends to become slightly monotonous.
22) This was written by Surabhi Thukral.
Marrying someone you don’t like, will never help you in forming a good family and can simply make life troublesome. This story is about a boy who has feelings for a girl but doesn’t acknowledge it at the right time. He ends up marrying the girl of his parents’ choice. But soon their marriage becomes a muddle and he feels the desperation of coming out of the mess. The story though begins appropriately; it proceeds too quickly and ends abruptly.
23) Love, Lust and Loot by Anjali Vaswani.
This story is something different and revolves around love and lust. A girl is married off to a rich business man who doesn’t give her enough of attention. Her feelings for him degenerate and move towards her lover. But then her lover’s lust puts both of them into a serious problem. It’s a thrilling story with not much of love factor. The concept of the story and its appropriate narration will easily captivate a reader’s attention!
24) Will You Cross The Skies For Me? by Neha Zahir.
It is an account of a woman who was used after her marriage. She narrates this whole incident to a man who tries to listen and give his opinion as well. The story possesses an intriguing narration and perfectly contains emotions of the woman. The narration of the story is such that it feels as if everything is occurring in front of our eyes. Good and Successful attempt, I must call it!
25) Menaka-A Lost Apsara by Simson Biswal
How will a married man feel after seeing his wife with another man? Well, the last story of this anthology is about a man who catches his wife’s affair but then his wife divorces him. He, a lonely person, becomes alcoholic and roams around in search for peace. The story in its initial stages is good enough but then in the finishing stage, it feels slightly abrupt.
Over-all: I would recommend Fusion to all my readers as this book is different from all the other anthologies. The stories in the book are indeed fascinating and I am sure readers will definitely enjoy reading it!
The cover and the title, both are interesting enough. Some stories in the book are really praise worthy while a few others require contemplation.
Speaking about the drawback of the book: In two stories, I found spacing errors. Also, at places, instead of open quote there is close quote and vice-versa. These mistakes definitely could have been avoided. Otherwise, no other drawback and the book truly pleases and delights a reader. Personally, the stories that I liked were 4,6,7,8,10,11,12,13,15,20 and 23.
Book Details:-
| Edited By: | Rachit Bhushan |
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| Publisher: | Dream House Publications | Publication Year: | 2014 |
| ISBN-13: | 9789384180980 | ISBN-10: | 938418098X |
| Cover: | Paperback | No. of Pages: | 205 |
| MRP: | Rs. 140 | Buy From: | Amazon.in Flipkart.com Infibeam.com |
[Original Source: http://suyashscorner.blogspot.in]
Summary
My Ratting
Considering everything, I would rate the book 4/5. Best Wishes to the Publisher, Mr. Simson Biswal, Editor, Dr. Rachit Bhushan and all the 24 contributors!
